Create a Mario Party Board Contest #3

We’re back for our third create a custom board contest! PartyPlanner64 has been already been out for a year so to celebrate, Mario Party Legacy is holding a third contest where contestants create and submit their own Mario Party board designs. Each submission will be looked through and graded on a variety of different qualities and the first place winner will be given a $35 eShop card while second place will receive a $20 eShop card.

This time we’re going with a theme: Winter! The deadline for this contest is Friday, December 29, giving you over a month to work on your board.

Before we get into the details, including how to submit your board, here are some quick links to easily find what you’re looking for:

Do not grab a map from another game and slap on spaces. This is lazy, we want original designs!

Spaces – 70 minimum, 140 maximum. At least 1 of each space.

Be mindful of where you want your Star spaces.

Include a detailed description of the board that explains how the board works and any potential features and events that you couldn’t include due to PP64’s limitations.

PartyPlanner64 has an issue with space alignment. Make sure to submit a version where spaces are correctly placed in-game. Fix this issue by turning on your board in the game and seeing where the spaces have moved. Adjust the spaces in the editor accordingly and test again. Keep doing this until your spaces are in perfect shape!

Test the game in PP64 and make sure it runs! Also include at least two in-game images!

Passing event guidelines:

Boo

1 min, 2 max (Mario Party 1 & 2)

1 min, 1 max (Mario Party 3)

Bowser

1 min, 1 max (Mario Party 1)

Item Shops

1 min, 1 max (Mario Party 2)

1 min, 2 max (Mario Party 3)

Bank

1 min, 2 max (Mario Party 2 & 3)

What will we be judging on

Once the deadline has passed and the boards have been submitted, SpiderStaryu and SuperZambezi will grade each board on a variety of different qualities. Each category is worth five points, adding up to a total of 50 points. Your board will be graded on this 50-point scale.

Theme – The overall setting of the board. Does it fit with the theme of the contest?

Gimmicks – Special features of the board. Happening spaces and other features are not yet available in PP64, so we’ll be judging your written description for the board. Include what these features would be! They should help make the board unique and original.

Background – Behind the board, basically the atmosphere.Path Layout – The layout and the basic board design. Arrows are crucial, so is being able to see the paths clearly.

Space Distribution – What kind of spaces are used and where. Make sure everything is fair and balanced!

Passing Events – Whether it be the Item Shop in Mario Party 2 or Bowser in Mario Party 1, how and where events are placed.

Originality – The overall board’s originality will be judged. Is this a borrowed idea done well or an original idea?

Playability – Does your board function in PartyPlanner64? You can find what works here. Make sure all dimensions are correct!

Guidelines – Must be followed as posted above, points deducted if broken.

Overall Presentation – Board’s overall review based on all the factors above.

Tips on making your board

First time making a Mario Party board? Here are some helpful tips on some ways you can create an awesome board:

Hand Drawn – Are you an artist? Perfect! Draw up your board, then use one of the following programs to place your spaces.

Powerpoint – Good for making shapes and placing transparent images over each other.

Photoshop/Paint.Net – Image editing program, good for creating images for your board. You can use it to form your board as well.

SketchUp – Create your board using a modelling program. Import 3D models from other games or create them yourself.

As for board design, study up on the boards of Mario Party 1-3 and see how they created their paths and space layouts. We’ll be giving tips and suggestions when we review your board. We also have a great video guide by SpiderStaryu that you can watch below:

Do you need assets for your boards? We’ve got a few that will work well if you’re building a Mario Party 3 board. This RAR file has things like spaces, arrows, and passing event images. There are also a few custom Mario Party 3 assets that SuperZambezi created available here.

Example

Ready to see an example of a submission? Here is StalfosKing’s board for Mario Party 3, Paradise Isles. The board won first place in our previous contest where the theme was based on summer and beach themes. Paradise Isles was primarily created using Sketchup. If you like what you see, the board is already available for download here.

Don’t be afraid to enter! We’ll take any and all submissions, as long as they meet the requirements. Plus, there is that cool $35 eShop card for whoever takes first place. $20 eShop card for second place! The deadline is Friday, December 29, giving you over a month to work on your board. Good luck!

How exciting! I really intend to participate this time, especially since I should have some more free time starting December.

Spongyoshi

I already have an idea and I’ll take my time so it looks great (that and to try to make the space more aligned.. Have some tips for that because it’s not really easy to just go “Trial & error” on this..)

Mario_Comix

Agreed. The last time I participated was before PP64 was ready, so I haven’t made an actual board for PP64 (and had to re-align spaces).

StalfosKing

I can hardly wait! Glad you announced it far ahead of time so I can work on it over the next month or so in pieces; I’m quite busy during the school year.

Poisonclaw64

So excited for this to be released! Already have the finishing touches on my board. Hoping this is much better!

KillerAwesome

Nice I can join a contest this time! I’d like to bring a new fresh idea not introduced in these contests!

Mario_Comix

So, let me just reconfirm what we need to submit: the .json file, all the images as per the PartyPlanner64 guide, and then two in-game images? Do we also need to have images for the full board layout both with and without spaces? I haven’t participated in this since PartyPlanner64 launched, so I’m a bit confused.

SuperZambezi

.json is the most important, the images like the board logo and large scene background are not needed as they will be in the game. An image of the full map is required for submission in general! With spaces is preferred, even if they are not aligned correctly in the image.

At this point I have no idea how I’ll ever finish in time. I’ll try my absolute best but I’m not sure I’ll make it. (It’s completely my fault, but a lot of it is how busy I’ve been)

Mario_Comix

Oh no! I wish you luck though.

SuperZambezi

Dang, that’s a bummer. If you need an extra day or two, you may be able to take that. We just need to have it sent in before Staryu and I start the review process which won’t be on the day of the deadline, still have to schedule that. Let us know!

Spongyoshi

Alright, I’m excited to see what everyone has come up with and to see my board reviewed!

Spongyoshi

By the way, do you have an idea of when the reviews will be released? Because I’m pretty excited for it once again!